Bernard Mitton (9 November 1954 – 5 May 2017) was a professional tennis player from South Africa.
Mitton reached his highest singles ranking of world No. 51 on 15 December 1975, and his highest doubles ranking of 20 on 25 June 1984. His career record in singles on the ATP Tour was 199–218, winning two titles - at Newport, Rhode Island in 1978 and San Jose, California in 1979. He was the runner-up in three other tournaments: San Jose (1978), Adelaide (1979) and Johannesburg (1981).
His doubles record was 210–191, and he won nine titles: Auckland (1979); Stowe, Vermont and Cologne (1980); Richmond WCT (1981); Johannesburg (1981); Tampa (1981); Columbus, Ohio (1982); Ferrara (1983); and La Quinta, California (1984). He was the runner-up in eight tournaments: Sarasota, Florida (1978); North Conway, New Hampshire (1978); Rotterdam (1979); Maui, Hawaii (1982); Ancona (1982); Toulouse (1983); Florence (1984); and Queen's Club (1984).
Mitton had career wins over John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, and Arthur Ashe in singles. He reached the fourth round at a Grand Slam tournament on three occasions. In his first Grand Slam tournament in 1973, he reached the fourth round of Wimbledon, then lost to Connors in straight sets. In 1976, he again reached the fourth round at Wimbledon, defeating former champion John Newcombe in the third round beforeg losing to Raúl Ramírez in four sets. He reached the fourth round at the 1980 US Open, defeating José Luis Clerc in the first round, then lost to Connors.
Mitton retired from the tour in 1984 due to injuries and joined the Newport Beach Tennis Club as director of tennis. From 2000 to 2003, he was at Rancho San Clemente. He taught until his death at the Racket Club of Irvine, California.
Career finals Legend Grand Slam ATP Masters Series ATP Tour Challengers Futures
Singles: 5 (2 titles, 3 runner-ups) ResultW-LDateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss 0–1 Apr 1978 San Jose, U.S. Carpet (i) Arthur Ashe 7–6, 1–6, 2–6Win 1–1 Jul 1978 Newport, U.S. Grass John James 6–1, 3–6, 7–6Win 2–1 Mar 1979 San José, Costa Rica Hard Tom Gorman 6–4, 6–1, 6–3Loss 2–2 Dec 1979 Adelaide, Australia Grass Kim Warwick 6–7(3–7), 4–6Loss 2–3 Apr 1981 Johannesburg, South Africa Hard Kevin Curren 4–6, 4–6
Doubles: 17 (9 titles, 8 runner-ups) ResultW-LDateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss 0–1 Jan 1978 Sarasota, U.S. Carpet Byron Bertram Colin Dowdeswell Geoff Masters 6–2, 3–6, 2–6Loss 0–2 Aug 1978 North Conway, U.S. Clay Mike Fishbach Robin Drysdale Van Winitsky 6–4, 6–7, 3–6Win 1–2 Jan 1979 Auckland, New Zealand Hard Kim Warwick Andrew Jarrett Jonathan Smith 6–3, 2–6, 6–3Loss 1–3 Apr 1979 Rotterdam, Netherlands Carpet (i) Heinz Günthardt Peter Fleming John McEnroe 4–6, 4–6Win 2–3 Aug 1980 Stowe, U.S. Hard Bob Lutz Ilie Năstase Ferdi Taygan 6–4, 6–3Win 3–3 Oct 1980 Cologne, West Germany Carpet (i) Andrew Pattison Jan Kodeš Tomáš Šmíd 6–4, 6–1Win 4–3 Feb 1981 Richmond, U.S. Hard Tim Gullikson Brian Gottfried Raúl Ramírez 3–6, 6–2, 6–3Win 5–3 Mar 1981 Tampa, U.S. Hard Butch Walts David Carter Paul Kronk 6–3, 3–6, 6–1Win 6–3 Apr 1981 Johannesburg, South Africa Hard Ray Moore Shlomo Glickstein David Schneider 7–5, 3–6, 6–1Win 7–3 Aug 1981 Columbus, U.S. Hard Tim Gullikson Victor Amaya Hank Pfister 4–6, 6–1, 6–4Loss 7–4 Oct 1982 Maui, U.S. Hard Francisco González Mike Cahill Eliot Teltscher 4–6, 4–6Loss 7–5 Nov 1982 Ancona, Italy Carpet (i) Tim Gullikson Anders Järryd Hans Simonsson 6–4, 3–6, 6–7Win 8–5 Nov 1983 Ferrara, Italy Carpet (i) Butch Walts Stanislav Birner Stefan Simonsson 7–6, 0–6, 6–3Loss 8–6 Nov 1983 Toulouse, France Carpet (i) Butch Walts Heinz Günthardt Pavel Složil 7–5, 5–7, 4–6Win 9–6 Feb 1984 La Quinta, U.S. Hard Butch Walts Scott Davis Ferdi Taygan 5–7, 6–3, 6–2Loss 9–7 May 1984 Florence, Italy Clay Butch Walts Mark Dickson Chip Hooper 6–7, 6–4, 5–7Loss 9–8 Jun 1984 Queen's Club, UK Grass Butch Walts Pat Cash Paul McNamee 4–6, 3–6
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